Mourinho comments about our season to L'Equipe

[Enigma_87]

No, Ole played in CL QFs because we won against PSG in round of 16, something that Jose failed to do against Seville last season.

And Ole was eliminated by Wolves in the FA cup. We can go on and on.

If it isn't 18/19 point tally that got Jose sacked, can you or Pogue explain me the great difference in 1.89 and 1.9 point per game tally that gets banged about?

So 1.9 vs 2.0 is irrelevant, but 1.89 vs 1.90 is?

 

[wub1234]

Leaving aside the appalling tactics, the generally miserable demeanour and negative public statements, and the fact that the team began last season really positively, and then Mourinho began playing negatively and the team never remotely touched those heights again...his record in the transfer market was dismal.

In 2016 - 17 Mourinho signed:

Bailly - hasn't been a complete disaster, but certainly hasn't been a success, and is now completely out of favour.
Ibrahimovic - hardly likely to be a long-term success, as he was nearly 35 when signed!
Mkhitaryan - left as a makeweight in Sanchez deal within 18 months, and completely frozen out of the first-team for some months.
Pogba - a qualified success, but has come nowhere near fulfilling his potential, or justifying his transfer fee.

In 2017 - 18 Mourinho signed:

Lukaku - doesn't look anything remotely close to a £90 million striker, and has got worse and worse the longer he has played for United.
Matic - another conservative signing, a stodgy midfield player who will be 31 in August.
Ibrahimovic - hey, why not re-sign him at 36!
Lindelof - a pretty decent signing, although there are much better centre-backs in the Premier League.
Sanchez - considered by some to be the worst ever PL signing, has been a total disaster.

In 2018 - 19 Mourinho signed:

Fred - has contributed almost nothing.
Dalot - shows some promise, but has a long way to go.

So he signed ten players, and I don't think any of them have been outstanding and emphatically successful. Pogba has had his moments, as you would expect from a world record transfer fee, Lindelof looks decent and could be good alongside a stronger centre-half. None of his other signings have been anything other than failures, and most of them aren't young and have zero potential to improve, and diminishing sell-on value.

Considering the other aspects of his managerial approach at United, he cannot wash his hands of all responsibility for what occurred during his tenure. There is no doubt that the club is not firing on all cylinders, but he was absolutely culpable for his own bad management.

 

[Enigma_87]

Why aren't they considering the 2.13 ppg at all? Jose was at his peak. Of course, that wasn't a good season for the standards we expected but it was better than 1.9 ppg, wasn't it?

And let's face it, if Ole had more than 21 games, there is a likelihood of that 1.9 ppg going down rather than up considering how our form has fallen off a cliff.

Because if fecks up with the 1.5 vs 2.0 comparison of course.

As you said in long term (3 years vs 5 months) it's likely those numbers to be lower, rather than higher.

 

[Nikelesh Reddy]

i hope he gets employed soon. maybe these interviews will stop. hopefully.

I want him to keep speaking.Hopefully it will drill some sense into those who are running the club....

 

[roonster09]

And Ole was eliminated by Wolves in the FA cup. We can go on and on.

If it isn't 18/19 point tally that got Jose sacked, can you or Pogue explain me the great difference in 1.89 and 1.9 point per game tally that gets banged about?

So 1.9 vs 2.0 is irrelevant, but 1.89 vs 1.90 is?

Yeah both are same Losing a 2 legged tie and losing at home to Sevilla is same as losing in away ground to 7th best PL team.

I'm not sure whether you are seriously arguing your point or trolling now. Jose didn't get sacked because he got just 1.89 points per game over 3 seasons, he was sacked because of the fall outs he had with everyone, losing dressing room and having shit results in 2018-19. It's accumulation of everything.

 

[acnumber9]

But how else can a club try to match its ambitions, other than by giving a manager lots and lots of money to spend? Which is exactly what they provided Jose. An enormous transfer budget and the best paid players in the league.

I think Pocchetino could justifiably moan about a club with a mismatch between their ambitions and the reality of the way the club is run but it's a bit rich for Mourinho to make this sort of complaint.

It depends a lot on what really happens behind the scenes with our transfers and if the manager is being stopped from selling players he doesn’t want. Too much that Woodward tells the press or has been quoted as telling the likes of Klopp makes me question how much can be pinned on any managers. Certain players were definitely Mourinho picks and there’s plenty of reasons to complain about Matic and Lukaku but players like Fred and Mkhitaryan? I don’t see anyway those are players Mourinho asked for. He wasn’t sure about Martial or Pogba and you can easily point to those two now as big problems in attitude. They can no longer hide behind the big bad wolf. The players being the best paid is more a critique of Woodward than Mourinho. They don’t justify those wages so it’s not indicative of the quality of the squad.

I’d agree there are managers with more to complain about it’s fair to say that Mourinho has proven to be able to win with limited resources and with big resources. So far Pochettino has shown to excel at what he does but fallen short of actually winning anything yet. And he had a better squad than Mourinho won two trophies and got to another final with. Money regardless.

 

[JustAGuest]

Why aren't they considering the 2.13 ppg at all? Jose was at his peak. Of course, that wasn't a good season for the standards we expected but it was better than 1.9 ppg, wasn't it?

And let's face it, if Ole had more than 21 games, there is a likelihood of that 1.9 ppg going down rather than up considering how our form has fallen off a cliff.

Because that season was so obviously unsustainable. The xPts metric would put the performance at 1.64 points per game. It's not about the metric by the way, the same can be observed by watching the games, De Gea had an outstanding season.

 

[AJ10]

Leaving aside the appalling tactics, the generally miserable demeanour and negative public statements, and the fact that the team began last season really positively, and then Mourinho began playing negatively and the team never remotely touched those heights again.

We actually tried to play some football this season but he changed it when we lost a game or 2 then went to defending against bottom half teams from the start (). Even the season before when we had that good run which ended with him parking his private jet against a out of form pool side while were in the best form after that we went downhill in every aspect, We hardly created any chances and just defended.

I deleted the other part because lets be honest here, he wasn't backed.

 

[Enigma_87]

Yeah both are same Losing a 2 legged tie and losing at home to Sevilla is same as losing in away ground to 7th best PL team.

I'm not sure whether you are seriously arguing your point or trolling now. Jose didn't get sacked because he got just 1.89 points per game over 3 seasons, he was sacked because of the fall outs he had with everyone, losing dressing room and having shit results in 2018-19. It's accumulation of everything.

I'm responding to the 1.5 vs 2.0 crap that got mentioned, which is not true, that's all. Everyone to his own agenda I suppose.

The main argument that Ole deserves time was because he improved on Jose's results in the league - points per game. Although statistic sample of 5 months is small, he averaged the same points Jose.

So once again, where is that great progress that we hear about and on what basis we should give inexperienced manager hundreds of millions and 3 year contract?

 

[roonster09]

I'm responding to the 1.5 vs 2.0 crap that got mentioned, which is not true, that's all. Everyone to his own agenda I suppose.

That's this season obviously? Someone said Ole didn't get best out of the squad compared to Jose, at that time I think Pogue replied with Jose got 1.5 PPG and Ole's team got 1.9 PPG (or he said 2 and then said under 2)

 

[Kapardin]

Because that season was so obviously unsustainable. The xPts metric would put the performance at 1.64 points per game. It's not about the metric by the way, the same can be observed by watching the games, De Gea had an outstanding season.

On what grounds do we believe Ole's 10 game winning run is sustainable then?

This season, Jose's head wasn't even in the job, so pretty meaningless to judge him by the 17 games when he was actively looking to get sacked by playing Herrera and McT as CBs.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

I'm responding to the 1.5 vs 2.0 crap that got mentioned, which is not true, that's all. Everyone to his own agenda I suppose.

Ok, I said I’m out but this bollox makes it impossible. 1.5 vs 2.0 “crap” is “not true” but 1.5 vs 1.9 paints a completely different picture, does it? FFS. I also never said “2.0”. I said “almost two” or words to that effect.

You usually talk sense but this thread has really exposed you as someone who talks out their hole if anyone dare challenge their opinion with facts that don’t match your agenda. So you’re going on ignore too. Well done.

 

[JustAGuest]

On what grounds do we believe Ole's 10 game winning run is sustainable then?

It wasn't, and it didn't have to be either. You don't have to win every game.

Ole in the Premier League this season: 1.81 xPts per game (better than Mourinho's best season, and 3rd best behind City and Liverpool this season).

 

[Enigma_87]

Ok, I said I’m out but this bollox makes it impossible. 1.5 vs 2.0 “crap” is “not true” but 1.5 vs 1.9 paints a completely different picture, does it? FFS. I also never said “2.0”. I said “almost two” or words to that effect.

You usually talk sense but this thread has really exposed you as someone who talks out their hole if anyone dare challenge their opinion with facts that don’t match your agenda. So you’re going on ignore too. Well done.

Interesting, as if I hadn't put up facts in the same time. You got angry because I asked you how did you calculate it. I have no issue challenging my 'agenda' with facts, or opinions for that matter. You don't agree with me, I don't with you. I'd leave it at that, no need to get personal about it.

 

[acnumber9]

So our best run under Mourinho was slightly better than Ole achieved in his first 5 months in charge, using Mourinho’s squad of players. Still not sure what point you’re making here?

It wasn’t just Mourinho’s squad though. Of his strongest team before he left at best three of them were his signings. The rest were signed by the three before him. That opens him up to criticism of his own signings for sure but again it would have to come back to who is actually responsible for the signings we make. If it’s the manager alone he deserves criticism for failing to assemble a better squad. But we already know for sure there was players he was not allowed to sell and some he was not allowed to sign.

 

[Ronaldo's Mum Eh?]

He's spot on. I was one of the only Mourinho in guys.

He isn't one of the best managers of all time by a mistake.

 

[United22]

Can people stop saying 81 points was good enough to be a title challenge any other season? It's just plain wrong, Chelsea finished on 93 with Conte, Man Citys finished with 98 this season. The only season where 81 points could have nicked the title was when Leicester won it

 

[PeteManic]

It's amazing how random people on a forum or in the street think that they know more than a man who was the manager and has worked in elite football for near 30 years.

 

[The Firestarter]

It's amazing how random people on a forum or in the street think that they know more than a man who was the manager and has worked in elite football for near 30 years.

Yeah, why do forums even exist?

 

[Pogue Mahone]

It wasn’t just Mourinho’s squad though. Of his strongest team before he left at best three of them were his signings. The rest were signed by the three before him. That opens him up to criticism of his own signings for sure but again it would have to come back to who is actually responsible for the signings we make. If it’s the manager alone he deserves criticism for failing to assemble a better squad. But we already know for sure there was players he was not allowed to sell and some he was not allowed to sign.

Isn’t that the same with every other manager though? When Klopp wasn’t winning things at Liverpool we constantly heard how hard it was for him having a “transfer committee” dictating a transfer strategy for him. Now they’re doing well this same committee is being hailed as a bunch of transfer geniuses. I’d be amazed if there aren’t similar complications at every PL club when it comes to a manager getting his perfect squad together.

Obviously if Woodward is single-handedly making all the calls then that’s not great but I can’t believe that’s happening. I’m sure we have some version of our own “transfer committee” and part of a manager’s job description is finding a way to work with people like this to assemble the best possible squad.

Obviously, it’s also possible our scouts and decision-makers are uniquely incompetent but I suspect that getting a really top manager on board will make those worries fade away. Time will tell. And yes, I would call Ole “ a really top manager” much more in hope than expectation!

 

[MrPooni]

Besides that? He's 100% right on that as well. If Pogba was playing there is no way we'd of got that result in Paris

I wholeheartedly agree but the point is still arguable as far as certain supporters are concerned whereas the rest of his points are pretty undeniable.

 

[Sir Scott McToMinay]

It's amazing how random people on a forum or in the street think that they know more than a man who was the manager and has worked in elite football for near 30 years.

I and many others knew Moyes would be a disaster yet SAF thought he was good enough.

I and many others knew our midfield was shite for years yet SAF thought that Carrick and a Giggs is a perfectly fine midfield to take on Barcelona.

Yet, 98 out of 100 other times, SAF knew better than us.
Sometimes knowledgeable and random people can be right where the specialist is wrong.

 

[Skills]

Isn’t that the same with every other manager though? When Klopp wasn’t winning things at Liverpool we constantly heard how hard it was for him having a “transfer committee” dictating a transfer strategy for him. Now they’re doing well this same committee is being hailed as a bunch of transfer geniuses. I’d be amazed if there aren’t similar complications at every PL club when it comes to a manager getting his perfect squad together.

Obviously if Woodward is single-handedly making all the calls then that’s not great but I can’t believe that’s happening. I’m sure we have some version of our own “transfer committee” and part of a manager’s job description is finding a way to work with people like this to assemble the best possible squad.

Obviously, it’s also possible our scouts and decision-makers are uniquely incompetent but I suspect that getting a really top manager on board will make those worries fade away. Time will tell. And yes, I would call Ole “ a really top manager” much more in hope than expectation!

This basically. The idea the manager should have free reign over transfer dealings is so stupid. You're talking about spending 100s of millions on the whim of one man.

Knowing the type of people Mourinho and Mendes are it wouldn't be long until they started abusing that position for their own personal profits.

 

[FootballHQ]

To me the rot set in last 10 games of last season.

You were very negative in the cup final against a Chelsea team who'd had a poor season. Also looked at some of the league games.

Man. United 0-1 West Brom- Nearly as bad as Cardiff result.
Brighton 1-0- Man. United
West Ham 0-0 Man. United- One of the most boring games all season.

Even the famous Man. City comeback you could've easily been 5 down at half time.

 

[roonster09]

To me the rot set in last 10 games of last season.

You were very negative in the cup final against a Chelsea team who'd had a poor season. Also looked at some of the league games.

Man. United 0-1 West Brom- Nearly as bad as Cardiff result.
Brighton 1-0- Man. United
West Ham 0-0 Man. United- One of the most boring games all season.

Even the famous Man. City comeback you could've easily been 5 down at half time.

Sure? It was other way around. Chelsea defended and played like a Mourinho team, we had so much possession and only were able to create half chances as Chelesa were very good defensively.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

This basically. The idea the manager should have free reign over transfer dealings is so stupid. You're talking about spending 100s of millions on the whim of one man.

Knowing the type of people Mourinho and Mendes are it wouldn't be long until they started abusing that position for their own personal profits.

Yeah, plus Mourinho has a history of falling out with his employers over not spending enough money at every club that ever employed him. Ever since he lost the benefit of managing the first “financial doping” club in the PL. When nobody else could even come close to matching Chelsea’s spending.

EDIT: Actually he didn’t fall out with Inter, did he? Honestly can’t remember.

 

[FootballHQ]

Sure? It was other way around. Chelsea defended and played like a Mourinho team, we had so much possession and only were able to create half chances as Chelesa were very good defensively.

Yeah second half you stepped it up. First half nothing at all happened until Hazard ran at Jones.

United did not have a shot on target in the first half on Saturday but were much improved after the break, as Thibaut Courtois superbly denied Phil Jones' header before Paul Pogba nodded wide when unmarked.

 

[Kapardin]

To me the rot set in last 10 games of last season.

You were very negative in the cup final against a Chelsea team who'd had a poor season. Also looked at some of the league games.

Man. United 0-1 West Brom- Nearly as bad as Cardiff result.
Brighton 1-0- Man. United
West Ham 0-0 Man. United- One of the most boring games all season.

Even the famous Man. City comeback you could've easily been 5 down at half time.

It was all downhill from the second half of the season though, Sevilla accelerating that slide. The points we earned in the first half of the season did stand us in good stead though, and the collapse wasn't too great to cause a major upset.

 

[roonster09]

Yeah second half you stepped it up. First half nothing at all happened until Hazard ran at Jones.

That's because they were very good defensively and shut every attack down.

 

[Giggsyking]

The best decision in the club's history

 

[wub1234]

I deleted the other part because lets be honest here, he wasn't backed.

That is obviously an issue, but the players he signed have been poor.

Sanchez, Pogba and Lukaku were all massive signings, and none of them have been successful. Fred, Matic, Mkhitaryan, Bailly, Lindelof all signed for bare minimum £30 million.

There is very little difference between what Klopp spent and what Mourinho spent. The two differences are that Klopp's signings were successful, and Liverpool also made tonnes of money from sales. Mourinho raised very little from selling players (and virtually none of the players he signed are worth anything now, as he usually signs players when they're already at their peak), and none of his signings were successful.

As for what Pochettino has done in the transfer market, Mourinho should be embarrassed to claim that he wasn't backed considering Spurs have spent net £30 million over the last three seasons, and have a far better team, with younger players, and are in the Champions League final.

 

[sunama]

“Was I a victim of Pogba? No. The problems are there, you can imagine that the problems are the players, the organisation, the ambition, I only say that I can not say yes when you ask if Paul was the only one responsible.”

The ambition part is the part I have a huge issue with.
Jose's ambition was to win trophies and specifically, win the title and knock Pep off his perch. Woodward's ambition was to save money and increase our profits.

Jose says that the problems still remain. Woodward is the biggest problem and while he is hear, I cannot see us winning the league. The sooner he is relieved of his football related duties the better.

Fans seem to be under the impression that if we buy 5 players, we'll be on our way to trophies. I honestly can't see this happening. Ole will never call out Woodward and Woodward will use Ole as a shield. When things to wrong, Ole will be fired and Woodward will come out of unscathed.

I cannot believe that fans are not calling Woodward out.

 

[AshRK]

They could have asked him why United played Big Sam style football with him. First they were shitting him on now they got him shitting on United but won't ask him questions about his failures, Especially Andy Gray and that idiot who use to butcher him every week.

This, this and this. Most of these journalist/pundits are hypocritical a**holes. I bet if Pogba sits beside SOuness he would all be praising him. This is why I don't completely trust most of these pundits including our ex players.

 

[acnumber9]

Isn’t that the same with every other manager though? When Klopp wasn’t winning things at Liverpool we constantly heard how hard it was for him having a “transfer committee” dictating a transfer strategy for him. Now they’re doing well this same committee is being hailed as a bunch of transfer geniuses. I’d be amazed if there aren’t similar complications at every PL club when it comes to a manager getting his perfect squad together.

Obviously if Woodward is single-handedly making all the calls then that’s not great but I can’t believe that’s happening. I’m sure we have some version of our own “transfer committee” and part of a manager’s job description is finding a way to work with people like this to assemble the best possible squad.

Obviously, it’s also possible our scouts and decision-makers are uniquely incompetent but I suspect that getting a really top manager on board will make those worries fade away. Time will tell. And yes, I would call Ole “ a really top manager” much more in hope than expectation!

All evidence points to this I’m afraid. Seriously, who watched Fred play and decided he was exactly what we needed?

How many other Premier League clubs do you have the CEO telling anyone who’ll listen that we deliberately didn’t go for defenders but we would’ve happily spent a fortune on a player not for sale? There’s no doubt Mourinho is a dick but ultimately he wanted to win. Does Woodward care if we win? I don’t think so. That’s where the problem lies for me.

 

[Rusholme Ruffian]

The best decision in the club's history

Better than the decision to appoint Sir Alex?

 

[Skills]

Yeah, plus Mourinho has a history of falling out with his employers over not spending enough money at every club that ever employed him. Ever since he lost the benefit of managing the first “financial doping” club in the PL. When nobody else could even come close to matching Chelsea’s spending.

EDIT: Actually he didn’t fall out with Inter, did he? Honestly can’t remember.

I don't think he fell out with anyone at Inter (outside of the media) but it was probably the club he had the least control over.

I think the issue is not just about spending. It's when he basically asking the club to right off 10s of millions of pounds worth of assets for him - and often just within a season of investing in them. I can see why that rubs up a lot of employers in the wrong way. Only financially doped clubs can do that.

 

[Bastian]

The true colours that were shown was Ole's good run with the team. It showed that despite it being Mourinho's team, he did a piss poor job of getting the most out of the players.

I'm afraid not. Why have we then been in relegation form. Makes no sense.

 

[Ekeke]

I'm afraid not. Why have we then been in relegation form. Makes no sense.

Because we were interrupted with all those injuries to the first team and those players havent come back in form unlike before the injuries. And because Ole is having to make do with Mourinho's mess of a lack of fitness from the pre-season and not able to bring any players in to fill holes.

Ole did better with Mourinho's players this season. And Mourinho only looked like he was going to get less of the players not more from them thats why he was sacked

 

[Bastian]

Because we were interrupted with all those injuries to the first team and those players havent come back in form unlike before the injuries. And because Ole is having to make do with Mourinho's mess of a lack of fitness from the pre-season and not able to bring any players in to fill holes.

Ole did better with Mourinho's players this season. And Mourinho only looked like he was going to get less of the players not more from them thats why he was sacked

I think that's about as rose-tinted favourable view of Ole as is earthly possible. Do you honestly think we should not have done much much much better in the last couple of months?

So if Ole struggles next season, it will be because of Mourinho?

The 2-3 months of good results is on Ole and the players, the 2 months of relegation form is on Ole and the players. I don't think there are any valid excuses for the dreadful last 2 months.

 

[Greck]

Bloody clown. Poch didn't get backed and is now in the CL final. This guy spent 70m more than Poch was allowed to spend and decided on a path of destruction that saw him sacked and begging for jobs in top flight clubs. Great manager, awful human being